FORECASTLE ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE AFTER PARTY AND KICKOFF EVENT

Preservation Hall Jazz Band to perform on the historic Belle of Louisville,

with special appearances by members of My Morning Jacket 

Official Forecastle kickoff party features performances by Dean & Britta and Purity Ring

TICKETS ON SALE SATURDAY AT FORECASTLEFEST.COM

LOUISVILLE, KY – AC Entertainment and The Forecastle Festival are excited to announce details of a one-of-a-kind after-party for the 10^th anniversary of the festival, set to take place during July 13-15, 2012. A special pre-party will serve as the kickoff to Forecastle on June 12.

Following their festival performances on Saturday, July 14, members of My Morning Jacket will make guest appearances as New Orleans¹ Preservation Hall Jazz Band graces the stage at an all-ages event on the historic Belle of Louisville steamboat, presented by Bell’s Brewery.

To start the weekend off with a bang, Consequence of Sound presents the Official Forecastle kickoff party, featuring indie pop duo Dean & Britta and electronic act Purity Ring. This 21 and over event will take place on Thursday, July 12 at Club 116, located at 116 E. Main Street in Louisville.

Tickets for both events will go on sale Saturday, May 19 at noon at www.forecastlefest.com. Tickets for the official kickoff party at Club 116 will be $22 plus applicable service fees. Tickets to the Saturday after-party aboard the Belle of Louisville will be $50 plus applicable service fees.

From every ticket purchased for the after-party on the Belle of Louisville, a portion will be donated to the Center for Women and Families, a Louisville non-profit dedicated to helping victims of intimate partner abuse or sexual violence.

Details on Friday’s after-party on the Belle, presented by Bell’s Brewery, as well as an additional Saturday after-party to be hosted at Club 116 will be forthcoming.

Forecastle 2012 marks the 10^th year of the festival and this year’s line-up features My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Bassnectar, Andrew Bird, Girl Talk, Atmosphere, Neko Case, Sleigh Bells, A-Trak and many others. A full breakdown of artists by day can be found at forecastlefest.com.

Three-day weekend and VIP passes, single day tickets and single day VIP tickets are on sale now.  Two-day and three-day travel packages are also available, including accommodations at the acclaimed Galt House – the festival’s official waterfront hotel, located a short walk from the festival site. Those wishing to “dock up” for the weekend may also purchase a very limited number of “Captain’s Club” VIP boat slips, which are located at the festival site.

Tickets for the festival are also available at select retailers throughout the region including: WHY Louisville in Louisville; Shake-It Records in Cincinnati; CD Central in Lexington; Indy CD and Vinyl in Indianapolis; and Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Nashville. After-party tickets will only be available online.

With each purchase, 50 cents will be donated to the Forecastle Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit, dedicated to local education and international environmental conservation. For more information about the foundation, please visit www.forecastlefest.com/foundation.

About The Forecastle Festival:

The Forecastle Festival is a port-of-call where the world gathers to experience the best in Music, Art and Activism®. A celebration of sights, sounds, and sustainability, Forecastle connects travelers North, South, East, and West. Merging entertainment with education, Forecastle inspires a voyage of personal growth and global change. Since 2002, the Festival has featured over 450 bands, 100 visual artists, and 150 environmental and outdoor recreational organizations. Previous headlining artists including The Black Keys, The Flaming Lips, The Smashing Pumpkins, Widespread Panic, DEVO, Band of Horses, She & Him, Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, Sleater-Kinney, Big Boi, Girl Talk, Z-Trip, Umphrey’s McGee, and many more. For more information on Forecastle, visit: http://www.forecastlefest.com.

Spin Magazine – “Top 101Things to do in America”

Outside Magazine – “Top 15 Outdoor Festivals in the Country”

The Discovery Channel – “The Cream of the Crop of Summer Festivals”

About AC Entertainment:

AC Entertainment is recognized as one of the foremost independent promoters in the United States. Founded in 1991, the company presents, books and markets over 750 events per year, including internationally renowned festivals such as Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Moogfest and Big Ears. AC Entertainment is based in Knoxville, TN. For more information on AC Entertainment, visit: http://acentertainment.com

That’s absolutely amazing! Because remember , Howard and the rest of the cast of America’s got talent were up against some heavy competition during last night’s May sweeps. Additionally notice that America’s got talent only dropped .2 percentage points from the week before and that was a finale show for the NBC hit The Voice.

NBC actually brought America’s Got Talent on the air early to be part of May sweeps. Last year America’s Got Talent (without Howard Stern) opened their season on June 2. Had NBC waited until the same time period this year they would’ve been out of the May sweeps but would have had less competition from other network shows that would already be in reruns.

Having been chewed up by Howard Stern some 14 years ago when I interviewed him for my Louisville tonight live show I’m actually thrilled that Howard did well on a national television network. In fact my wife Norine thought he was fabulous as a judge. That says a lot about Howard’s performance.

The numbers for ratings last night are as follows:

8 p.m.

ABC: “Dancing with the Stars” (14.8 million viewers, 9.6/15 households)
NBC: “America’s Got Talent” (9.96 million, 5.8/9)
CBS: “How I Met Your Mother” season finale (8.5 million, 5.0/8)
FOX: “Bones” season finale (7.1 million, 4.4/7)
The CW: “Gossip Girl” season finale (1.2 million, 0.8/1)

18-49 leader: “How I Met Your Mother” (3.6)

9 p.m.

ABC: “Dancing With the Stars” (17.1 million, 11.0/16)/”The Bachelorette” (9.3 million, 6.0/9)
CBS: “Two and a Half Men” season finale (11.3 million, 6.9/10)/”Mike & Molly” season finale (11.6 million, 7.2/11)
NBC: “America’s Got Talent” (10.7 million, 6.2/9)
FOX: “House” (6.5 million, 4.0/6)
The CW: “Hart of Dixie” season finale (1.5 million, 1.0/1)

Bob Sokoler is a former Anchor/Reporter turned Louisville Realtor 7 years ago, and co-owner of The Medley Sokoler Team in Louisville Kentucky. You can learn more about Bob, his Team by clicking Louisville Real Estate.

Welcome, David!

Louisville author David Domine

For years I wrote a monthly food column for Kentucky Monthly magazine, so people might know me from that. Or else, they might have taken cooking classes from me or attended one of the cooking demos I’ve done for Los Monitos, a local language school. I also teach foreign languages at Bellarmine University and Indiana University Southeast, so I have had a good number of students over the years. In addition, I’m very active in the Old Louisville community, so many people know me there, especially those on committees with me. Of course, I’m frequently in the neighborhood leading tours as well, so people are used to seeing me on the streets.

I have heard of the Old Louisville Ghost Tour before.  Are you the tour guide, then, as well?  Do people often call on you for help “ghostbusting”?

I started working with the newly opened Vistors Center in Historic Old Louisville in 2005 to use my tours to promote the neighborhood and it’s really taken off since then. In addition to a variety of ghost tours, we also offer history and architecture tours, so any given week there are usually 20 or so tours on offer. I used to do most of the tours myself, but I’ve really cut back in the last year to make more time for my writing and now there are several tour guides who help out.

Yes, people often contact me for “ghostbusting help” but I usually refer them on to someone else because I don’t consider myself a ghost hunter. If anything, I’m a “ghost story hunter”, since I don’t even really believe in ghosts. The unexplained, yes; chain-rattling ghosts, not so sure. I’m more interested in documenting the tales and legends that add to the local fabric and make the area unique rather than trying to prove the paranormal. So, if people get in touch with me, I’m happy to listen to their stories and share any historical information I might have if they’re calling about a house in particular, and if the story is really interesting I might actually do some research and see what we can find out about the property in question. That’s how I’ve gotten some of my most interesting stories for my ghost books.

When can we get your books in ereader format?

Some of them, like the Insiders’ Guide to Louisville I did for Globe-Pequot Press are available as ereaders already; I’ll have to check with McClanahan and see why they don’t do that with my ghost books.

So far you’ve tackled local ghosts and our fabulous Kentucky culinary offerings. Ever consider writing fiction?

Funny you should mention that, because fiction is what I first started writing and it’s my true passion. As a matter of fact, I’m currently working on my MFA in fiction at Spalding University, and one of these days, I’ll get one of my fiction books published. I’ve been working on a coming-of-age novel, The Wonders of Absinthe, for years now, but the one I’m really concentrating on right now is a murder mystery with a drag queen sleuth that is set in Louisville. It’s called The Gospel of Glitter according to Poo Poo Chiffon and the Disciples and deals with hypocrisy and intolerance.

Those sound like a dream & a scream!  Hope they join your other works out here in the land of the shelves, soon.  I know how much harder it is to let go of fiction, though!  Totally understand why it takes longer to pen than the non-fiction stuff.

Who are your favorite writers from the local area?

We’re really lucky that there are so many good writers in Kentucky. Of today’s writers, some of my favorites are Silas House, Joey Goebel and Kim Edwards. Closer to home here in Louisville, there’s Sena Jeter Naslund, Kirby Gann, and Kelly Creagh.

Tell us about your favorite bookstores/coffee shops/writing haunts.  What makes them special?  

I get most of my writing done at home, usually in the library, but there are a number of coffee shops where I hang out and write as well. I like Sunergos Coffee on Preston because it’s your typical low-key hangout with beat-up old furniture and a laid-back vibe. Quill’s on Bardstown Road is a favorite as well; I like sitting there, getting ideas, as the busy street traffic goes by.

What’s next on the writing slate, for you?

I’ve always got several irons in the fire, so I’m not sure which manuscript I’ll be sending off to the publisher’s next, but it will probably be a memoir I’ve been working on called Voodoo Days at La Casa Fabulosa. It’s about the house I lived in on Third Street in Old Louisville, the one where I had the strange experiences that prompted me to write my first book Ghosts of Old Louisville. In addition, I’ve just begun work on a true-crime story that I’m callingThe House in Old Louisville. Most people around here have heard of the case. It’s about a rather horrific murder that took place in a house on Fourth Street in June 2010 and it has all the makings of a bestseller: drugs, sex, counterfeit money, and cross dressing. (By the way, go to my facebook page “The House in Old Louisville” and like it!) I’ll be doing a lot of the necessary research this summer, and I need to follow the trial through to the end, so it will be a year or two before the book is finished.

David, thanks so much for stopping by today!  Can’t wait to read your fiction, as well as your memoir!  All your books sound ultra-fabulous, and I know your local area neighbors will just *eat them up.*  

If you know a writer (either side of the river is fine, y’all) who deserves to shine in the Local Author Spotlight, please get in touch.  Books about relevant local subject matter are encouraged, as well.  Email Leslea.Tash@gmail.com and please put “LouisvilleKY.com Author Spotlight” in your email subject.  Thanks!

“I have often been faced with the circumstances of watching families have to cope and deal with siblings after a child dies.  There really weren’t a lot of resources to assist in a therapeutic way to comfort  and write down their goodbyes,” said Eiche, a Louisville-based Kosair Children’s Hospital child life therapist.

Out of this search for a solution that would support families in closure, Eiche began to cut out the stuffing of teddy bears, and have people write down their goodbyes and put in favorite objects that they either wanted to give their loved one, or wanted to keep as a reminder of that person.  The bear could stay with the family member forever, or it can be placed with the person who has departed as a parting gift of love.

That concept evolved into what is now a business serving others in pain and loss through various kits and activities, such as the Bare Heart-Grief/Loss Kit.  This kit comes with two bears, a booklet, a notepad, and a marker.  These bears can be made by the family in the final days before the loved one dies.  There is a version for the infant keepsake for parents who have lost an infant or newborn baby that has a sachet for a locket of hair or ID bracelets, along with a footprint memento and a heart-shaped notepad.  One can stay with a family member and the other with the one who has departed.

Now there are also separation kits for military families, business travelers, divorce, or hospitalization.  The single bear-heart separation kit is for those already separated from their loved one.  The Bare Heart serves as a keepsake or memory maker to provide comfort for a person who has experienced stress or sadness due to separation.

The most recent addition is the Surgery Bare Heart bear that helps children cope when being separated from parents during surgery. This kit comes with a bear, hat and gown, an instructional booklet with a hospital autograph page, a heart notepad and a marker.

As the website points out, “The first step is to fill your Bare Heart bear full of love. He has hearts that you can write notes or draw pictures on to help you remember your loved one.”  Eiche says people find that putting small objects that connect them to another person in the bear can assist in the feeling that the bear has a part in the connection.

Even funeral homes have begun exploring the use of Bare Heart Buddies, as the bears are called, in their sales and arrangements.  Ft. Braggs has invested time in using them with men and women separated with their families.  The John C. Lincoln Breast Cancer Research Center found the company online and have formed a partnership.  Individuals as far away as Quebec, Cape Town, Africa, and Switzerland have ordered bears in recent months.  There are plans to deploy the bears in 50 pack orders.  The company holds a patent-pending status.

Eiche pointed out, “This is not a geographically-driven business.  Everyone understands love and that’s the universal language.” She continues to investigate ways that organizations and groups can expand this throughout the world.  Visit:  www.bareheartbuddy.com, and you can donate a bear as well.

Eiche is working with Camp Erin, the largest network of free bereavement camps in the country for children and teens who are grieving a significant loss; and  Camp Mariposa, for children affected by addiction in their families, under the auspices of  The Moyer Foundation. The foundation was founded in 2000 by MLB, World Series-winning All-Star pitcher Jamie Moyer and his wife, Karen.   If you would like to donate a bear, Camp Erin would like Single Grief/Loss Bare Heart Kits, as well as Camp Mariposa.  You can select the quantity of Single Separation Bare Heart Kits you would like to donate. Upon check out enter the following shipping address:

The Moyer Foundation
2426 32nd Avenue West, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98199

Enter the Redemption Code: Moyer to receive the reduced price for donations.

A table fit for any child who loves their mama's cookin'. Queenie's takes you home to fill your soul. Photo: MetroMix Louisville Michael Clevenge

As we move into the Mother’s Day weekend, we focus on the table of our youth. The tireless work of nourishing their children has provided us with memories our moms from a PBJ in the lunchbox to fried chicken and biscuits after church.

This Friday’s lunch suggestions appeals to the comfort food lover in all of us – meals that were favorites when we lived at  home have become  menu items that we crave when feeling nostalgic, homesick or  even a smorgasbord for a good old-fashioned pity party.

Perhaps I tend to focus on the Boomer generation and the precedent the post-war families set for dining traditions. As a school-aged kids in the 60s, me and my siblings saw the era of processed foods rise over the suburbs like a flash-frozen sun. (Ruh-ro!) Yet our mom made sure we knew how our family’s bread was buttered!

Even though she was raised in the country down in Rockcastle County and saw her own mother stoke an iron stove with wood for some of the best pies, cornbread and soups you ever tasted. My mom did not let the trends of the Birds-Eye nation taker her down when she moved to city life with her husband and three kids. We had down-home cookin’ in the middle of urban sprawl.

My brother, sister and I can cook and bake but not like Mom, who is currently 82 and gardens, cans and cooks with no end in sight. As much as we’d love to take her out to eat for Mother’s Day, we’d rather stay at home and watch her cast  her magic over the stove. Is that just wrong?  Then again, you know how it is as an adult child who journeys home to the mixed message of “Get in here, the food’s gettin’ cold!” and “You’ve put on some weight….”

If you’re hankerin’ for some cookin’ like mama’s, there are a few independent dining establishments that should fulfill the longing for anything from dumplings to meatloaf, mac-and-cheese to pork chops. Hold on to your hamhocks, here we go!

This is a true  story of a Mother who made a dream come true – for her family and for the loyal crowds longing for homestyle soul food in the middle of Hike’s Point. Visit Queenie’s and enjoy some pork chops and chicken (baked or smothered), collards, cabbage, black-eyed peas. peach cobbler or banana pudding with a tell glass of sweet tea. I recommend a brisk evening constitutional later on, perhaps twice ’round Seneca Park.

Why bother with suppertime when you can have Mom’s Meatloaf from Lynn’s Paradise Cafe  for lunch? As the menu says – made with Kentucky grass-fed premium beef 
and garnished with our spicy marinara sauce. Chomp into a BLT or get lost in some buttery grits as long as you’re basking in the glow of an ugly lamp. I doubt your family’s dining room was decorated like Lynn’s but if you close your eyes and hold tight to your fork, your taste buds will take you back home to, well, wherever it was.                      

Come on down to catch the gravy train at Baxter Station whose creative cuisine is delicious and their sense of “blue plate specials” are wholesome as ever. Plate lunches prepared daily and served with a salad and two sides. Frankly, I see the mashed taters and gravy as the main course with some mac and cheese and Lima beans on the side.

In Kentucky, the times have changed for home-grown and cooked meals. Health and local wealth is taking over, thank goodness, but so many of us still need that familiar fix. Homestyle veggies! If you remember green beans from the garden, they didn’t look like that by the time the bowl hit the table. Moms in the country would cook ‘em for hours and stir in that slab of bacon while they’re at it.

Potatoes any way you can get  ’em – mashed, fried, hash browns or in a soup. A pone of cornbread or fried corn cakes puts the iron skillet or griddle to task.

Deep friend chicken with no apology and certainly no doctor’s note. Hot refills on coffee and someone to call you “Hon” might be the hallmarks of a place that reminds you of Mom. Here are a few more suggestions of such local dining traditions:

If breakfast for lunch is what you like, D. Nalley”s will serve up biscuits and gravy for as long as they last.

A Germantown tradition, Flabby’s is back with all-American favorites from catfish to cheeseburgers. Also the pride of Schnitzelburg, Check’s Cafe has a basket of chicken or a bowl of bean soup with cornbread waiting at the bar or a table.

A drive southwest is worth it for the home-cooked bounty of Granny’s Apron. This best-kept secret is out. They cater to your sense of nostalgia as well as cater your event.

The small house with a big taste, Cottage Inn is known for its fried chicken, grilled chops, beans and slaw.

Chicken fried steak, chicken pot pie, chicken livers and gravy – does the Goose Creek Diner do justice to the hen or what?

Late Breaking Bread! Is you mother Italian? Was your grandmother from Sicily? Share Pauline Anselmo’s inspiration in the Highlands. Anselmo’s Bistro & Bar is test-driving a lunch menu for Mother’s Day, so call in a reservation. By June, they’ll open for regular lunch to mark their first anniversary. ‘Bout time!

Hungry Facebook friends are waving their napkins! Some folks miss a few old haunts and others agree on the basic button-buster dishes. Let’s see what they  have to say:

Jim Trimble Goose Creek Diner.

Bob Strehl Remembering Blue Boar!

Judy Pendergrass Berger My Brazilian dad always loved the Blue Boar. It wasn’t his usual style and I always found it curious.

Bob Bahr My mom favored Bill Boland’s. It became John E’s and I ate there once after the name change. Fried chicken and sides that met her approval.

Carrie Morrison Shoaf Queenie’s off Taylorsville in Hikes Point. Guuuud fried chicken, corn bread, and mashed  potatoes.

Judy Pendergrass Berger Oh yes, Queenie’s. They have the best collard greens I have ever tasted. In addition to the fried chicken, they also have great pork chops and fried fish

Pip Pullen-Swope The Irish Rover, but they’d need to burn everything. Kashmir! Nobody does English nosh like the Indians! Mum made a passable curry, but she was in all honesty a rotten cook

Talley Cockerel The Bristol’s Yummy Hot Brown always brings me comfort!

Vicki Aubrey Welch The First String Grill and Pub on New Cut Rd has daily specials just like home cooking! Yummy meatloaf and mashed potatoes!

Kathy Lut I have to vote for Christi’s Cafe on Dixie Hwy.. Their big ol’ thick pork chops remind me of my grandmother’s.. YUMMY!

Michael A. Triebsch How bout the Come Back Inn?

Marianne Schroeder For good old soul food Queenie’s in Hikes Point is great!

Ruth Neunlist-ConnGranny’s Apron on Rockford Lane. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DELICIOUS!!!!

Rick Roderick I would add the Cottage Inn. Goose Creek Diner has some of those things. We have lost a couple. One was the old Myra’s Grill that was on Ray Avenue. The other was the Melrose Inn.

Victoria SnellingJessie’s Family Restaurant or Goose Creek Diner for veggies and corn bread. If you’r up for a nice drive in the country, Westport General Store has great food. I miss Melrose Inn! Sounds like I need to check out Queenie’s

Ruth Neunlist-Conn Fried green tomato/portabella mushroom sandwich at Goose Creek is amazing! Love Cottage Inn, but Granny’s Apron has them beat.

Jon Hardy Goose Creek Diner.

Mason RobertsHammerheads had great comfort food, but if you’re looking for something a bit more traditional The Cottage Inn and Wagner’s Cafe are gems. Barbara Lee’s is a classic diner, and Jerry’s in Jeffersonville. And nothing comforts me like the bisque at Mayan Cafe.

Thanks for feeding the local economy! Thanks to all the moms out there with a warm heart and a hot kitchen!

by J. “Hans” Gilderbloom Ph.D.

I have now lived in Louisville longer than my hometown, San Francisco, but my knowledge of horse racing is about as shallow as knowing the Golden Gate Bridge is really orang,e not gold.

Gilderbloom at the Oaks

However, I do know statistical odds; that is why I have a Ph.D. after my name. Based on a host of factors, I can predict with 95% certainty the odds of your home going up or down in value; or even worse how long you will live based on where your home is located.

I will never learn to win betting on horses. Even if I calculate while sober and bring a host of “smart factors” into my choices, I still lose. Even when I do win, I still have to pay for entrance fees, food, parking and other bets that I lost. Yes, you can win but you need to subtract the original investment. Who can resist a $3 exact bet that might give you a return of $3, 345 by choosing the finish order of three horses out of 12?  Now that is seductive!  I think I will “have another”

So I am sitting at a seat valued at $5,000 in Millionaires Row with a successful local businessmen who claims he has sent three of his children through college by being smart and lucky (estimated at $350,000).  He tells me you will lose if you bet on every race, so pick the right races and horses with a 12 to 1 shot.  Okay!  So being greedy I have him pick my horses;  I lost anyway.  Darn!  No Hawaiian vacation this year! Oddly when it came for him to bet 30 seconds later he dumped my chosen horses and went with other horses for the Oaks race;  well he sorta won if you count a return of $27.58.

I did hear one funny and odd story about how to pick the winning horse guaranteed-bet on all the horses. In this case he placed $100 bets on every horse that ran. He won but his net earnings were minus $800. That doesn’t sound like winning to me either.  I asked people in a crowded elevator if anyone won $1,000 or more for the day. Nobody. But for me “winning” is not the end game, to have a great Kentucky Derby it’s the entire gestalt.

My best Kentucky Derby bet has always been renting out my Victorian Home in the Original Highlands for $8,000 or so with a yearly investment in $3,000 in legal fees, maintenance, upgrades and finding a company to rent it. Sorry about that shameless promotion.

There are two questions folks ask each other: “Did you win?” and/or “Did you have a good Derby?”  I had a great week-minus a few hours Derby Day at the Infield. Here were my highlights, starting 7 days before Derby:

Saturday:  The Cherokee Triangle Art Fair is always pleasurable with the added bonus of some quality art pieces I have added to my collection through out the years.    Sunday:  I went to the Derby Fest Chow Wagon Gospel Festival which was awesome but the “nearly all black crowd” reminds me of the walls between races in the South.  In New York tourists from Germany pay admission to go into black churches in Harlem to hear the real deal.  Heck,  does anyone realize that  Elvis combined gospel with blues and country to come up with the rock and roll sound.

Wednesday: Mudd Sisters’ Annual fundraiser dance party for Alzheimer’s during the Steam Boat Race on the Indiana side at KingFish.  It is always a lot of fun but the highlight was the band, the Louisville Crashers who were talented, tight and enjoyed the stage being invaded by hundreds dancing to soul, rock and country. Next year they might want to add to their song list:  ” I forgot to remember to forget her.”

Thursday:  Headliners featured Madman Across the Water (an Elton John Tribute band) and the band Rumours (provided a tribute to Fleetwood Mac). The entire show was awesome and perhaps is was being able to stand near the stage and hear a perfect mix of throbbing  base and drums.  The Elton John Band was even better than Elton John show at the Yum Center-because the sound was clear and balanced.   Check out the the Madman at Abbey Road by the River on Memorial Day.

But the real treat was Rumours doing it better than Fleetwood Mac for one night! As Keith Richards once said “on any given night the world’s greatest rock and roll band can be playing at any bar, club or arena.”  On  Thursday the magical dust of rock n’ roll fever was spread at Headliners.   Kimmet Cantwell is one of the best vocalists here or anywhere.  She hit all the right notes but with emotion and conviction.  She exuded powerful raw sexiness.  Her backup band was exceptional with Danny Flanagan, Ray Rizzo, Tim Halcomb, Todd Johnson and Natalie Bahandas. Odd that Kimmet could do a better Stevie Nicks and one of the top twenty performances I have ever seen.  I was sorry to have missed the annual Make a Wish Foundation party at the nearby Thunder Dome which is always a lot of fun but the Headliners show held me hostage to great rock and roll music.

Friday:  Oaks with Rick Redding as a member of the media (since I am a member of the press corps, I had to write this article!). Yes, there was lots of great food, an air conditioned observation room, and no lines for betting. It was a Roman treat of comfort, beauty and luxury, though we spent several entertaining hours people watching in the Paddock.  Rick taught me why he loved the Derby and his eyes sparkled when talking about going to the Infield 9 times.

By 7:45 p.m. I get back to my home and after a quick rest, I took a walk around the Original Highlands neighborhood to take in the sights and sounds of Derby on Baxter Avenue. Got lucky with a table at my favorite place, O’Shea’s for some fish and chips and joining me was my favorite movie star (who shall remain unnamed for privacy reasons since she is still filming here in Kentucky). We strolled around the neighborhood and were impressed by how many compliments my dog (Dexter) received.

How to get attention in the Paddock - Wear one of these suits

Aside from getting attention with a cool dog, is to get a cool outfit (can we retire the Blues Brothers digs?) A stellar example of this was Mark Lampton  (whose mug also made the Courier Journal on Sunday) and got mobbed for his custom tailored $500 suit. It harkened back to the Beatles Soho era sporting swirling purple paisleys. He shared that anyone may custom order a suit.

Saturday : Several Washington D.C. friends begged me to make bets on Union Rags (a for- sure winner!)  so I slogged back in the early afternoon to make bets at the Infield and waited 45 minutes to place bets among a crowd of sweaty, pushy and angry folks who felt they were being treated rudely.  It’s better to go to one of a million house parties.  I went to an annual family house party and celebrate the 14th birthday of Emma Corner. Honestly, it was so much better than $50 infield of hot and sweaty Hell.

My last event of the evening was stopping by the Monkey Wrench which puts “hip” back into hipster.  I went to see a short and convincing set by Johnny Berry and the Outliers with Steve Cooley sitting in.   How come Louisville has all this great music and nobody outside of Louisville seems to know about it?

Sunday:  Highland Baptist Church and the Pastor, Joe Phelps, referenced the Derby by saying it’s a call to the races or a call to God.  I guess all bets are off at church. Happy Derby everyone!

J. “Hans” Gilderbloom’s last articlewas about music and appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine…..a long,. long time ago.

Weirdest thing about me and the first Saturday in May, though.  I have graduated college on that day, been engaged on that day, birthed a son on that day, and this year was on vacation for about the third time on Derby Day!  It’s not intentional. I love Derby.  It’s just how things have worked out, more than once.

Where we were this Derby!

I was on my smartphone checking Facebook on Friday this year, when I came across a pic of a local ad guy wearing a horse mask.  ”Weird,” I thought.  Then I realized, “Hey, it’s the Oaks.”  In line to gain entry to Universal Islands of Adventure (and the new Harry Potter theme park contained therein), the lady in line behind me asked where we were from, and told us that she, too, was from Louisville.  ”You’re going to miss the Derby!” she said, before she told me about her annual Derby Party in Daytona Beach.

I grew up loving horses, I enjoy the track, and I swear there are no hard feelings between us whatsoever.  I can croon along with The Run for the Roses by Fogelberg as well as the next gal.  I am a Wayne Lukas girl.  I have won Derby Trivia contests before, although I’m not any kind of expert–I just have all kinds of random info in my head.  I bow my head at the mention of the name Secretariat, man.  I’m legit, I swear.

Somehow, though, despite being a journalist and having tons of journalist friends covering the news on FB, I always miss out on Derby events.  It’s like I’m not meant to be there, for some reason.  I like Thunder, but most years I am working in my yard hearing jets overhead before I realize I’ve whiffed it.

What about you?  Do you have some kind of mental block about Derby?  Have you in the past?  Will mine ever recede?  I kind of suspect it has something to do with managing all these kids, and books, and life.  I’m just overwhelmed, I think.  Not much leisure time.

And that’s too bad.  Maybe next year I’ll make a point to hang outside the Barnstable Brown party and rubberneck again.  Or see the airshow.  It’s been decades since I’ve gone to the Chow Wagon.  Does that still exist?

Oh, yeah.  And I might even catch a horserace.  Might have to work it into a birthday party theme for my son, but what kid doesn’t like offtrack betting as a birthday activity, huh?  C’mon.  A little julep-flavored punch, anyone?

 Seated on the finish line Derby Day, Sharon Kaelin enjoys a bottle “this is a great idea!”     $20 bucks for the bottle and the reusable funnel.  Bottoms Up!

Bodemeister is the pick

In trying to make selections for today’s Kentucky Derby, the key factor seems to be the pace of the race.  The late addition of Trinniberg to the field completely changed the complexion of the race, and a muddy racetrack would throw another wrench into how the race will likely unfold.

Trinniberg comes into the Derby off two sharp sprint scores, but he has never raced around two turns.  He will most likely be first when the field hits the first turn, and the pace will likely be fast.  Hansen also has quite a bit of early speed, and has been a bit rank when working out in the mornings, refusing to rate.  If that is the case, look for these two to be in front early.  It is extremely doubtful that Trinniberg will finish anywhere near the front, the question is just how far he will go before he begins to fade.

Perhaps the biggest question in the year’s Derby is whether or not the extremely talented Bodemeister will rate off this hot pace.  If so, he is a huge threat to win the race.  However, he lacks the seasoning of most of the runners and may resent being restrained early.  If this is the case, it is hard to see him winning.

Sitting just behind the early speed should be Union Rags, Gemologist, and Take Charge Indy.  Union Rags, who will be the first or second choice in the wagering, is certainly a threat to win.  Gemologist is undefeated, but one has to question the quality of rivals he has beaten to this point.  Take Charge Indy has one great race in his past performances, but that was when he got loose on the lead and set easy fractions in the Florida Derby.  One has to think Calvin Borel will try to guide him up the rail.

The third flight of horses will probably include Creative Cause, I’ll Have Another, El Padrino, Alpha, and Went The Day Well.  Getting through traffic will be key for these horses.  Creative Cause and I’ll Have Another ran neck and neck down the stretch of the Santa Anita Derby, but today they will have to contend with a huge field.  Mario Guiterrez, the jockey of I’ll Have Another is riding in his first Kentucky Derby, and how he navigates the large field will be key to his horses chances. Alpha was taken up sharply around the first turn in the Wood Memorial, but still almost came back to defeat Gemologist. Went The Day Well has the same connections as last year’s winner, Animal Kingdom and followed the same path to get to Churchill Downs, but he does not seem to have the maturity Animal Kingdom had at this point last year.

Many times in recent years a hot early pace in the Derby has led to a longshot coming from far back to win at huge odds.  Who can forget Mine That Bird and Giacomo?  Today two horses seem to have a great chance when coming from far behind, Dullahan and Daddy Nose Best.  Dullahan made a huge late run to win the Bluegrass Stakes in his last start, and is ridden by three time Kentucky Derby winner Kent Desormeaux. The only hole in his resume is that he has never won a race on a dirt track; all his wins are on synthetic surfaces.  A muddy racetrack would probably improve his chances.  Daddy Nose Best won the Sunland Derby in his last start, and he showed a powerful burst of energy very late in the race.  He certainly has a chance to win today at a nice price.

Putting it all together, here are the selections for today:

1. Bodemeister
2. Union Rags
3. Daddy Nose Best

Super Longshot Special – El Padrino.

Good luck to all today.